Chapter 2

As I stepped on the plane, I could feel my heart pounding with excitement and fear. I had never flown before and didn’t know what to expect, all I knew were other people’s stories. As the plane took off, I gripped the armrests tightly, feeling scared.

As the plane lifted off the ground, I felt weightless for a moment. I looked through the window, amazed at how everything below me grew smaller and smaller. The clouds outside were fluffy and the sun was shining bright.

When the plane leveled off, I felt relaxed and hit the window.

“Had to take this long to fly in one of you huh?” I laughed at myself and refused to give an audience to my neighbor who side-eyed me and said “Les villageois.”

The flight attendant came around with refreshments, and I was grateful for the distraction.

We had been in the air for a long time, when the plane landed for a layover, and hours later, we were back in the air.

I tried to force my eyes to close, to rest at least, but that proved impossible because my eyes kept looking back outside the window, throughout the flight.

As the plane began its final descent, I felt my heart pick up for the third time that day. I felt pressure in my ears and wondered if it was normal. But when the plane touched down on the runway, I found myself letting out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Stepping off the plane, the same feeling of excitement and fear got to me, but for a completely different reason. I was in a way continent, far away from home, and I didn’t know what to expect.

I followed everyone else to where they were collecting their luggage and actually took a minute to admire how magnificent the airport was. Graceful curves of steel and glass soared high over an immaculate landscape. The terminal bustled with travelers, and the smell of fresh coffee and baked goods filled the air.

Outside, I found my pick-up; since I didn’t have any relatives in Britonia, the school provided me with an airport pick-up service.

“Hello,” I said to the man holding up a big card with my name on it.

“Miss Kee-uh Ash Ah-fake-ehz?” he struggled to pronounce my name. That actually made me laugh.

“Kie Ash Afaikez” I corrected.

“I’m sorry,” he said, smiling.

“It's fine, I understand.”

Leaving the airport, we drove through the busy streets and highways of the city, passing by iconic landmarks and historic buildings.

The window view changed as we passed through small villages and towns, with charming houses and beautiful streets. The view dominated by the outstanding natural beauty of the English countryside.

We drove for over an hour, and seeing the magnificent River Thames was a plus for me.

We finally arrived at my residence and I felt refreshed and invigorated from the car ride.

We got down and my driver offloaded my things.

“Have a nice stay in Wyvern mam.” He smiled at me before entering his cab and driving away.

Since I started looking for accommodation when it was already late, I had last-minute accommodation and had to call the house manager to help place me.

After I made the call, a white lady who looked like she was in her early thirties came out to assist me.

“Sorry for waking you to wait outside” she apologized.

“Miss Monette?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied smiling.

“It's fine, you didn’t actually keep me waiting,” I said. I wasn’t kept waiting for a minute, but I thought she meant offloading me out, instead of leading me inside.

We entered an area that looked like a waiting room and she was about to start climbing a fleet of stairs when she saw my luggage.

“I don’t really trust these elevators but with what you’re carrying, you won’t make it to your room in one piece if we use the stairs.

“Thank you.”

She hit the button for the third floor and rode up.

“Your roommate is around already, did he contact you?” she asked as we got closer to the last door on the left of that floor.

“He” I asked, confused. She stopped and turned around.

“I hope that is not a problem. You filled in your form you didn’t mind sharing with any gender” she said.

I just filled it that time because it was a die minute something, didn’t really think they would put me with a boy.

“I didn’t think that really mattered,” I told her honestly.

“This is why they say think before filling the form,” she said, seeming upset.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized.

“This was actually the last option, so you’ll have to stay here for a while before I can get another accommodation in your preference.”

“How long can that take please?” I enquired.

“I don’t know; a week, month, I don’t know.”

“A month?”

“Yes, honey, a month or even more” was her reply.

We turned around and continued to the room. When we stepped in, my first thought was “Not so bad.”

We were in a medium size living room, with two sofas and a dining table with two chairs at the side.

From there, she led me to a corridor with two doors on the left and right and pointed to the door on my right as mine.

“I’m sure you are tired, I’ll leave your keys with you and contact you if anything shows up,” and with that, she left.

I carried my box and extra luggage and went into my room.

I was actually surprised at the space; Miss Monette had delivered. I felt sad that I couldn’t live there for long.

My scholarship didn’t cover my accommodation and daily expenses, so I had to take care of that myself. I started looking for accommodation late because I was trying to convince my family to get me a good and somewhat comfortable accommodation, and by the time they saw reason with me, it was already late. I told them I got a scholarship, so they had to congratulate me by giving me good accommodation, especially because I was going to be taking care of my bills myself.

My room was spacious and had a big bed, almost as big as a queen size. It had a mattress and white shits on, which I immediately changed, a bedside cupboard that matched the light brown color of the bed, and a wardrobe at the far end of the room.

I undressed and moved to the bathroom to take my bath. It was just a normal bathroom, with space for two, a shower head, and a little cabinet on the wall.

I was really exhausted so the called water was very much welcome.

I took my bath, dressed up, and was out like the light.

***

I woke up to some noise outside. I felt really weak and confused but took some time to get myself together. After tossing and turning for over 5 minutes, I checked the time, 1 a.m. I had slept for eight hours. That was a first; I never slept for more than six hours.

 I heard two male voices outside, and thought one of them was probably my temporary roommate. So I got down from my bed and made sure I was dressed appropriately and opened my door.

I moved to the living area, and saw two boys playing video games on the TV; didn’t notice that earlier. The room was dimly lit, which was good.

Normally, I would run back to my room although I came out for the purpose of greeting, but I figured why not try being the first for the first time.

“Hi,” I said, I was already wrapping one leg around the other.

No respond.

I tried greeting twice again, but they still didn’t respond. That was when I saw headsets on their ears and realized they couldn’t hear me. That was my cue to live.

But as I turned around, I stumbled on a figure.

“What the h…” I began saying as I lifted my head, but the cat cut my tongue.

“Are you okay?” what I stumbled on asked me.

“I’m fine, you startled me,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m Damian by the way.”

“Ash”

“Okay Ash, are you here with Oliver or Jack?” he asked.

“I live here. Temporarily anyways” I said smiling at him. He laughed. He looked cute when he laughed.

“I’m sorry again,” he said smiling. “You’re my roommate then?”

“Temporarily”

“Okay temporary roommate, welcome to Britonia,” he said and went to join his friends.

“Ohh my God, he is hot,” I thought. He had tattoos, but I couldn’t figure them out, because of the lights.

That was a sign I was going to love it there.